White Water (6 page)

Anne had taken up a lot of the slack at home, but Kara still had responsibilities with Ryan and around the ranch. Then their summers were spent at Eagle Lodge. Rodeo and riding clubs were out for her, but she didn't really mind. She much preferred working with stock on the ranch and helping Colin, Dad, and Greg when the need arose. Tia had always been around to help, but now her friend would not only have Devon to share her time with, but riding lessons and competition too.

Am I jealous?
she asked herself as she turned Lily in a circle and brought her up beside the tree line at the north end of the meadow. “No,” she said aloud. She stroked Lily's neck. “I think I'm just feeling a little left out.”

Lily's answering whinny seemed to say, “I agree.” Kara laughed. She knew the horse was only telling her to get on with the ride.

The distance from one end of the meadow to the other was at least two hundred yards—the length of two football fields. The mare was still young and spirited, and this was a great place to let her run.

“Okay, girl. Here we go.” She leaned forward and squeezed Lily's sides with her legs. The horse broke into a lope, then a full gallop. Kara held the reins loose and low on the horse's neck, closed her eyes, and lost herself in the rhythm of the ride. If she threw her arms out it would be like flying—even more exciting than buzzing the Grand Canyon in a plane.

Why not?
Lily's gait was smooth and the ground fairly even. She wouldn't be taking too much of a chance. The reins were already knotted so they wouldn't fall; all she had to do was let go.

She dropped the reins and sat up straight, barely slowing Lily's stride. When she had her balance, she spread her arms straight out and lifted her face to the wind. A rush of adrenaline left her light-headed. She closed her eyes and inhaled the sweet, damp air. It smelled of pine resin and rain-washed earth. “Ayiiee,” she howled as tears of joy flooded her eyes.
I can do it. I can fly!
The heady rush of freedom was almost unbearable.

Too late, she felt the change in Lily's stride. The horse suddenly slowed, reared, then plunged sideways. Before she knew what was happening, Kara hit the ground.

The air rushed out of her lungs with a resounding whoosh. Her head reeled, and her ears buzzed like a nest of angry bees. She struggled for breath and managed to get onto her hands and knees. She could hear Lily's high-pitched whinny and the pounding of hooves as her horse ran away, but when she tried to lift her head, the world spun black. She instantly dropped it down again.

Something had caused Lily to spook. The horse sounded terrified. Kara's only conscious thought was to find out why. She drew in three slow, deep breaths, then carefully lifted her head. Her vision cleared, but one glance at the tree line in front of her and she froze. Fear shot like lightning bolts through her stomach and chest. For an instant she felt light-headed again. She fought down the nausea that welled up in her throat and tried to calm her pounding heart
.
It's just a cub. A cute, fuzzy, little, black bear cub
. But cubs almost always have a mother close by, and that was not good news
.

Think!
She had to keep a clear head. She knew what to do. She and Colin had gone over it several times when they had taught a survival class at the high school last fall. If only her woozy brain would cooperate.

Slowly and carefully, she got to her feet and stood still until another wave of dizziness passed. Then she began to back away, keeping her eyes on the cub. It mewled and stared back at her with curious, dark brown eyes.

A deep-throated growl stopped Kara in her tracks.
Don't run!
“Oh, God, keep me calm. Please!” she cried out loud, then made herself turn toward the cub's angry mother. The sow wasn't very big, but Kara knew that size didn't matter to a mama bear defending her cub. Neither did size make the claws or teeth any less lethal.

The bear was about twenty feet away. It stood on two legs, sniffing the air and watching as Kara moved slowly backwards. If she could put Mama Bear between herself and the cub, it might make her seem like less of a threat.

But Mama Bear wasn't buying it. She suddenly dropped to all fours and huffed furiously, taking three quick strides toward Kara. Then she stopped as if waiting for her prey to react.

Kara stood her ground. She straightened up, making herself look as tall as possible, and waved her arms, yelling at the top of her lungs. “Go away! Go on, scram! Get out of here!”

The bear stayed where it was, rose up on two legs, and swung her head toward her cub. The little bear bleated and
scampered toward her, but a deep-throated warning sent it scurrying up a tree.

While the bear was distracted, Kara looked around frantically. She had to have a weapon. Something to protect herself if the bear really charged.

A few feet away, a small, flat tree stump marked the place where last spring she and Greg and Dad had built a fire ring. Kara felt a surge of hope. She had gathered most of the rocks herself, and if she remembered right, they were big enough to pack quite a wallop.

The bear swung back toward her, shaking its head and clawing up clumps of earth. “Help me, God!” Kara cried as she lunged toward the tree stump, scooped up a rock, and threw it as hard as she could. It landed just short of the snarling animal. Yelling, screaming, and jumping up and down, she snatched up another rock, took aim, and threw.
Missed again!

But the enraged bear took a step backwards, and Kara knew she couldn't let up. A picture flashed through her mind of her father and grandfather watching TV.
Baseball. Think baseball
. She'd been a good pitcher in the Kids' Sports league.

This time she forced herself to pause and take aim. She couldn't believe the bear still hadn't charged. She could feel the sweat beading up on her forehead, and her hands felt like they'd been greased with cooking oil. She went into her windup stance, then let loose with everything she had.

A screamer!
The ball-sized rock split the air like a knife and plunged into the bear's belly with a resounding thwack. The animal froze, then went down. Kara's heart thudded like a drum as the bear rolled to her feet and ran away from Kara into the woods.
She won't be gone long
, Kara thought,
not with the cub still in that tree
.

A sharp whinny brought Kara around. Lily stood about thirty yards away, trembling and ready to bolt. In the far distance, Kara heard shouts and saw figures running toward her across the meadow. She lunged toward her horse, but Lily was still spooked and danced just out of reach. Not that it mattered. She couldn't mount bareback without help, and the only tree stump was too close to the bear.
Well, Wako, you wanted to fly. So fly!
She took a deep breath and sprinted toward the running men.

“I
T WAS MY OWN FAULT
, D
AD
.
I wasn't paying attention.” Kara accepted a cup of chamomile tea from Anne, but her hands were shaking so badly she nearly spilled it
.

“Wakara, are you sure you're not injured?” The concern on Dad's face hurt more than the scrapes and bruises.

She nodded. “I'm okay, really. The fall knocked the wind out of me. Then I saw the bear . . .”

She shuddered. “I've never been so scared in my life.”

“Mother bear is a formidable enemy,” Anne said. “God was watching.”

Kara agreed. “You've got that right. I can't believe she didn't charge! And that fire ring. We built it last year, remember, Dad? When I was helping you and Greg round up strays. The rocks were the perfect size and within reach. That wasn't an accident.”

The door slammed as Colin and Greg came into the room, rifles still in their hands. “Sow's gone,” Greg informed them. “So is the cub.”

“No blood either,” Colin added. “She must not have been hurt very badly.”

Kara shook her head. “No, the rock hit her in the belly. I think it just knocked the wind out of her.” She took a deep breath and blew it out on a long sigh. “Poor bear. I know how she feels.”

Everyone laughed, and Kara could feel the tension in the room dissolve.

Ryan's feet were dangling from Dad's lap, but when the phone rang, he jumped up and dashed out of the room. Dad turned to Greg. “You boys store those guns, then get the stock fed. We can finish the branding tomorrow.”

Colin nodded, but instead of leaving, he handed his rifle to Greg. “I'll be there in a minute.” He moved to the sofa and squatted down in front of Kara until they were eye-to-eye. “I hope you don't plan on doing that again anytime soon.” He gazed at her as if there were no one else in the room
.

It's not like I planned it!
Kara started to protest, then realized Colin wasn't blaming her, but telling her how scared he had been. She grinned and held up two fingers in a Girl Scout salute. “I promise to do my best to stay away from bears.” The smile he gave her felt like a hug.

Dad cleared his throat. “She's fine, young man. I think you'd better get to those chores.”

Colin stood, tipped his hat to Anne, and left the room.

“Dad!” Kara couldn't believe her ears. Dad could be firm sometimes, but he was never rude.

The phone was ringing again as Ryan bounded back into the room. Dad switched his attention to her little brother. “Aren't you going to answer that?”

Ryan shrugged. “Prob'ly not; it's just Tia, and I already tol' her she couldn't talk to Kara now because she's resting from almost getting eaten by a bear.”

“Ryan Sheridan, you didn't!” Kara exclaimed.

Dad just stared at Ryan, then turned to Kara. She couldn't tell if he was going to laugh or cry. “Anne,” he said, almost choking on the words, “would you please get the phone? I'm going upstairs.”

“What's with him?”

Kara didn't realize she had said the words out loud until Ryan answered, “Maybe he's gotta go.”

Anne flashed her a sympathetic look, then hurried from the room.

Kara hobbled to the phone and assured Tia everything was fine, then washed and went in to dinner. But by the time she had finished a small portion of vegetable soup and pushed away from the table, she realized she could hardly move without pain.

Anne helped her upstairs, ran hot water into the tub, and added an earthy smelling liquid.

“Juniper.” She answered Kara's unspoken question. “You will soak twenty minutes now, then again before bed. The pain will be gone.”

Kara groaned, crawled into the tub, and sank up to her neck into the hot mixture. The effect was so soothing she moaned again, this time with relief. “Oh, Anne, what would I do without you?”

Anne smiled, laid a fresh towel on the sink, and left the room.

When Kara woke up the next morning, she realized Anne had done it again. Her bruises were already fading to yellow, and most of the pain was gone. She managed to catch up with Tia before second period and was rewarded by her friend's excited squeal when she asked her about going with them to Eagle Lodge.

“We don't start with Mrs. Bryant until after Easter,” Tia assured her. “I'll ask Pops, but I know they'll let me come. My grades are so much better, they let me do practically anything I want.”

By Thursday of the next week everything was arranged. Dad had decided that Kara could ride into the valley with Colin and Greg, but he hadn't sounded too happy about it. “I'd rather have you with me,” he'd said without giving a reason why, “but we're going to need some extra mounts, and I don't want the guys to pony more than one apiece.

“Ryan has permission to leave school a day early,” he continued without looking at her, “so he and Anne will come with me in the Cessna. Tia will fly in with Mark on Saturday when he brings the extra supplies.”

Kara thought about that conversation as she followed Ryan from the bus stop down the narrow dirt road, then up the gravel drive. What was up with Dad? Every time he talked to her lately, his voice sounded sharp, and he wouldn't really look her in the eye.

“It's not like I've done anything wrong,” she told Tia.

Tia shrugged. “I wouldn't worry about it. When Pops weirds out on us, it usually means he's had a bad day at work.”

Kara nodded to be polite, but she didn't really think it had anything to do with the ranch. Maybe he was just missing Mom and didn't know how to handle it. Men weren't nearly as good at dealing with emotions as women were. She'd started paying attention when she'd learned that in Health class and found it was true. Maybe Tia was right. Maybe Dad's behavior didn't really have anything to do with her at all.

Ryan had stopped to smell a clump of wild snapdragons. “Don't pick them, Ry. The wild ones don't keep very well. Besides, we leave in the morning and won't be around to enjoy them.” She urged him on ahead of her.